The United States has imposed sanctions on two cryptocurrency exchanges and a wider network of companies and individuals accused of helping Iran launder billions of dollars, evade US sanctions and support the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC).
The action covers six entities and one individual in Iran, Georgia, Poland and the United Arab Emirates. The US State Department said the measures followed Iranian attacks on commercial vessels in the Strait of Hormuz earlier this week.
According to the State Department, Tehran uses digital asset exchanges to retain access to the international financial system. The sanctions are aimed at cutting off resources that Washington says Iran uses to threaten neighbouring countries, support terrorism and advance its nuclear programme.
The US Treasury Department identified Siavash Kayvanpour as the operator of a multinational network involved in illicit cryptocurrency activity. Kayvanpour was born in Iran, holds citizenship of Dominica and Afghanistan and has lived in the UAE, according to the department.
Treasury said Kayvanpour operates Shelbit Exchange through SHPS Shelbit, a Georgia-based company. Digital wallets associated with the IRGC allegedly transferred more than $1 million in digital assets to Shelbit addresses, while more than $2 million moved from Shelbit to IRGC-linked addresses.
Wallets linked to Kayvanpour also allegedly transferred more than $2 million in digital assets to Nobitex, an Iranian cryptocurrency exchange already under US sanctions.
“The Iranian regime’s reliance on digital assets and shadow banking networks is further evidence that Economic Fury is working,” US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said, adding that Washington would continue dismantling illicit financial networks supporting the Iranian government.
Treasury said Shelbit also provides services to a large Persian-language online gambling network, through which tens of millions of dollars in digital assets were allegedly laundered.
The sanctions additionally target UAE-based Shelbit General Trading LLC, Crypto Home DMCC and NFT Home DMCC, as well as Poland-based Shelbit Technologies Ltd.
The UAE’s Virtual Assets Regulatory Authority took enforcement action against Shelbit General Trading in January 2025 and July 2026, and against Crypto Home in January 2025, Treasury said.
Separately, the Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) sanctioned Aban Tether, an Iran-based exchange accused of processing millions of dollars in transactions involving Nobitex and other previously designated exchanges, including Wallex, Bitpin and Ramzinex.
The State Department’s Rewards for Justice programme is offering up to $15 million for information that helps disrupt the IRGC’s financial networks, including sanctions-evasion operations, front companies, exchange houses, revenue streams and transfers to Iran-backed armed groups.
The IRGC was established following Iran’s 1979 revolution. The United States designated it a Foreign Terrorist Organisation in April 2019 and had previously designated it as a Specially Designated Global Terrorist.
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